Qantas attendants sue over explosion

A QANTAS flight crew who endured a near-disastrous engine explosion are leading a class action over the trauma they suffered in the mid-air incident.

The 17 crew from NSW are the first to sign up to the negligence lawsuit against global engine giant Rolls Royce, claiming "psychological injury as a result of the engine failure" over Indonesia on November 4, 2010.

The suit was lodged by LHD Lawyers in the Supreme Court on February 6, and the lead plaintiff is 31-year-old flight attendant Sandy Lam, from Eastwood, who has worked for Qantas for five years.

Ms Lam, who was working in premium economy on the day of the engine explosion, allegedly suffers from a fear of flying and can no longer fill her car with petrol.

She says she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

In court yesterday, the class action lawyers succeeded in forcing Qantas to hand over the passenger manifest for flight QF32, which had departed from Singapore and was bound for Sydney.

The lawyers hope to use the list of names to ask passengers if they have suffered psychological injury and wish to join the action for compensation.

There were 469 people on the flight - including 24 cabin crew and 440 passengers - when the explosion tore through Airbus A380's second engine as it flew over Batam Island in Indonesia.

The statement of claim states that following the explosion the superjumbo returned to Changi airport with a disabled engine, "multiple systems failure and escaping aviation fuel".

It alleges the passengers were forced to remain on board the stricken plane for nearly an hour after it landed because the engine could not be shut down, aviation fuel was leaking and there was "an extreme fire risk on the ground".

Barrister John Rowe said the Changi airport firemen's standard procedure was to not approach a sparking engine.

The passengers were able to disembark from the stairs at the back of the plane only when the firemen were able to spray the engine with fire-retardant foam, Mr Rowe said.

Rolls Royce was being blamed for the loss and damage suffered by the 17 crew because it was responsible.

The failure was allegedly triggered by a "fatigue cracking in a stub pipe" which was designed, manufactured and installed by Rolls Royce.

The 17 crew have been psychologically examined and are still working for Qantas. LHD Lawyers are representing them in the action on a "no-win, no-fee basis".

Mr Rowe said: "Our clients suffer from varying degrees of psychiatric trauma and some can no longer fly."

Following the incident Rolls Royce did an engine recall to fix any problems.

The claim does not make any allegations against Qantas. Qantas and Rolls Royce declined to comment. The case returns to court on July 2.